Caledonia injects £24m into Bowers & Wilkins

The investment was made via the creation of preferred ordinary shares in Bowers and Wilkins, which will provide Caledonia with a dividend yield. Shares have been bought from the quoted Belgian investment holding company Sofina SA, which remains a minority investor, and B&W International Limited.

Caledonia suits Bowers & Wilkins' preference for a long-term investor to support its growth strategy. Caledonia was drawn to Bowers and Wilkins' experienced team, good turnover and global presence. The investment fits Caledonia's remit for £20-50m capital injections in exchange for a minority or majority share and board representation.

Company
Bowers & Wilkins designs, manufactures and distributes high-end audio equipment. Based in Worthing and founded by John Bowers in 1966, the company reported EBITDA of £13m, profit before tax of £6.5m and consolidated gross assets worth £80.2m in 2010. The company is expected to report EBITDA in excess of £18m in 2011.

People
Duncan Johnson is head of unquoted investments at Caledonia and has been appointed to the Bowers and Wilkins board. He led the transaction alongside Tim Lewis on behalf of Caledonia.

Advisers
Equity – Macfarlanes, Stephen Drewitt (Legal), KPMG Transaction Services, Nick Standen (Financial due diligence).
Company – Radcliffes Le Brasseur, Peter Coates (Legal).

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• Topics
• UK / Ireland
• Consumer
• Expansion
• United Kingdom